Mumbai: Sharad Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party chief , said on Wednesday that the Union government should have objected to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remark about a “increase in human rights abuses” in India.
“The statement made by the US in front of our ministers, that there is… violation of human rights in India, is detrimental for the country. When the heads of two countries were having a discussion, this issue should have been raised by India and our dissent towards this statement should have been expressed,” Pawar said on Wednesday.
He was replying to Blinken’s remarks on Tuesday, in which he stated that the US was “watching some recent troubling events” in India, including “a surge in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison personnel.”
Following the end of the 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministers meeting in Washington on Monday, Blinken held a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Pawar claimed that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray was doing the BJP’s bidding when he targeted him in a public rally in Thane on Wednesday.
He said that the MNS head mentioned nothing about the BJP and instead targeted the NCP, a critical partner in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi administration.
“He tried to discharge the responsibility which the BJP may have given him,” Pawar added.
Taking a dig at Thackeray, Pawar said he didn’t know the exact nature of “understanding” between the MNS chief and the BJP. “He did not speak a single word about the BJP. What does this mean? … The one who calls himself a politician didn’t speak on issues like price rise and unemployment. What does this mean?” he asked.
Pawar refuted Raj Thackeray’s claims that the NCP president engages in caste politics and does not use the name Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
He further claimed that communal violence was being attempted in Maharashtra and warned citizens to be cautious.
“An attempt is being made to disturb the social harmony of Maharashtra. There are certain people in the state who are deliberately stoking communal trouble. I request the residents not to fall prey to such attempts,” said Pawar.
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